More than Zero
by Lady Syndil
Summary: Youji and Natsuo, things start changing for them once they met Soubi and especially Ritsuka. Rated M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Loveless is not mine.**

**AN: Warning there are some spoilers in here and of course Yaoi. Man sex ahead you have been warned.**

More than Zero

Chapter 1

It all started for Youji and Natsuo, the male Zero pair, after they lost to Soubi and he took them in. It was the first time anyone had ever shown them compassion or mercy. Until that point they had lived under the thumb of Sensei Nagisa exclusively, she even had them homeschooled so they had almost no social skills, as far as she was concerned they were actually 'Less than Zero' and treated them accordingly. Just sets of Interchangeable biological parts that she had created to show up and if possible impress Ritsu. When they had lost to Soubi, she'd had no more use for them.

They had expected that they would go back to her and then they would be terminated, but Soubi had taken them in instead. It went against everything they had ever known up to that point, and it confused the hell out of them. They'd done some pretty awful things to him during that fight and despite the fact that he'd won and he had every right to kill them then and there, but he'd not only shown them mercy, he'd told them that once they could move again to come to his apartment for the time being. He'd taken them in when they'd had nowhere else to go, he'd even bandaged up their wounds and cared for them.

Then came the day they finally met Ritsuka, Soubi's sacrifice. He was with Soubi when they had gone to pick him up after a fight with some other Fighter Unit, a fight he hadn't won, and he'd lost because he hadn't fought back, his sacrifice hadn't ordered him too because he wasn't there. This had seriously pissed off Youji, that wasn't how a Sacrifice should treat his Fighter, but it turned out that Ritsuka knew as much about the Fighter/Sacrifice bond as they did about how normal people should treat each other, which was nothing.

So they had begun to learn from each other. Natsuo and Youji telling Ritsuka how the Fighter Units worked together the rolls that the Fighter and Sacrifice each played, specifically pointing out that Soubi was the perfect fighter as he had no will of his own and needed to be completely controlled by his sacrifice, that when he was with Seimei they had been famous among the Fighter Units.

They learned from Ritsuka in less obvious ways, by watching him and seeing how he treated everyone around him, including themselves. They saw that he was much stronger than they had originally thought and yet he had such a kind and gentle heart. He had become so angry on their behalf when the Female Zero's Kouya and Yamato had attacked them with that strange spell and Youji had gone down in an instant. It had been terrify because for one brief moment they couldn't feel each other. Soubi told them later that the Female pair had cast a spell that had switched the Zero sacrifices, the shock is what had taken Youji out. But that the real damage caused by the spell would be carried by the pair who had cast it in the first place. They didn't really understand what he meant by that, but they were together once again and that was all that mattered.

As long as they had each other, they could deal with anything.

Ritsuka became their first real friend, and thru him they began to see everything in a different light. That day when he snuck into Soubi's apartment to get some sleep, they had found him snuggled down in between them. What actually surprised Youji the most was that he hadn't woken them when he crawled in there with them, if anyone else had entered that apartment they would have been awake in a heartbeat. But Ritsuka had not only entered the apartment but had managed to crawl into that bed with them. How strange was that and what did it mean? That they trusted him even in their sleep?

Also because of Ritsuka, they realized that the way they were treated by Sensei Nagisa was considered neglect bordering on abuse. That weren't too disturbed by it, as long as they had each other it really didn't matter how she treated them. She may have abandoned them but at least they still had each other and now they had Soubi, Ritsuka and even the flighty Kio as friends. They were learning.

Then there was the day it all came to an end.

Or at least that is what it had felt like at first, Sensei Nagisa called them, called them and told them to come back to her. It was what they had thought they had been waiting for, what they really wanted, but when the call finally came, they realized they didn't want to leave. But that life, it was all they knew and they also knew they couldn't keep living here at Soubi's forever no matter how much they wanted too, so they had left and returned to Nagisa. But Nagisa didn't call them just because she wanted them back, she'd brought them back because the female Zero's had been defeated and had 'died' so they were all she had left. She sent them to the school of the Seven Moons, putting them under the care of her rival Sensei Ritsu so that they could learn the schools way of Fighting and become stronger, because she said they we're just too weak as they were now.

So they were in enrolled in the school of the Seven Moons.

They hadn't wanted to do that either, but Nagisa was a very effective convincer. She'd threaten to kill them herself if they didn't do as she asked and for all they knew she could do exactly what she said, she'd created them after all. So they had gone and there they had been separated for the first time ever, each student not only had their own room but Fighters and Sacrifices lived in different wings, some of their classes they had together but not all.

That first night Youji lay alone not only in an empty bed but in an empty room for the very first time, for as long as he could remember Natsuo had always been there somewhere nearby. His chest felt tight as if there was a large weight upon it, he didn't understand this sensation, not at all, and then water began to leak from his eyes. He touched fingers to his cheek and looked at the moisture there on his finger tips. His eyes were broken? He'd seen others 'cry' when he'd hurt them during a fight, but he wasn't fighting now and as a Zero he didn't feel pain, so why were his eye's leaking water? But it wouldn't stop and he wasn't about to go tell Nagisa, afraid that she would consider him defective and terminate him, so he let his eye's leak water until he finally tired and fell asleep. When he awoke his eye's seemed to have stopped leaking so he didn't tell anyone but Natsuo. Natsuo said he had felt the weird heavy weight also and it had taken him a very long time to get to sleep, but that his eyes hadn't leaked any water.

The nights eventually became easier and Youji's eyes eventually stopped leaking water, especially when Natsuo was able to make it over to his room for the night. They found out pretty quickly that despite the fact that the school tried to keep the Fighters and Sacrifices in separate rooms, in their separate wings that it didn't really help much and just about every Fighter unit spent as many nights together as their training allowed. Most (though not all ) Fighter units lost their ears to each other as soon as they hit puberty. The Zero's were a little perplexed by this as many of the pairs were of the same sex just as they were, they knew very little about how a person went about losing their ears They believed that to lose one's ears the two people involved were supposed to be of the opposite sex. The night they had met Soubi, they'd had the pretty Sensei Hitomi Shinonome under their control, for just that reason, they had been planning to make her tell them how to do it and then get it done and over with so they could be adults, never realizing that they were probably far too young at the time to have even carried it out even if they had known what to do. Having entered the school at the sixth grade level they still hadn't much to go on, seems sex education was covered during year 5, some students matured earlier than others, and the school thought it best to teach them before things got out of control.

For the next 2 years things went pretty smoothly for the Zero pair all things considered. After Seimei had returned and gouged out Ritsu's eyes Nagisa seemed to have lost interest in the Zero pair for the most part. Other than the occasional half hearted threat to kill them, she basically left them alone, all her attention was now focused on Ritsu. They helped Ritsuka as much as they could with the 'Beloved' problem, That Nisei was a real weird guy all right, and Seimei, they couldn't believe he was even related to Ritsuka, But Ritsuka said it was true, so it had to be. Personally they wish he had been the one that had died, instead of just staging his own death, he was putting Ritsuka and Soubi thru hell. They'd offered several times to hunt him down and to try to kill him for the 'Loveless' pair, but they refused, saying it was their problem. Natsuo thought Soubi and Ritsuka were trying to protect the two of them, Seimei was very strong and had never hesitated to kill his opponents, Youji agreed with his Fighter but that didn't mean they would ever back down if it came to a fight with the true 'Beloved' pair.


	2. Discovery

**Disclaimer: oh the usual... **

Chapter 2 - Discovery

What Youji wasn't telling anyone even Natsuo, was that his mark had started to fade, ever so slightly and that the birthmark they both had on their left hip was getting darker. The Zero mark was on their right hip it was small and not easily seen, so even though he and Natsuo often bathed together, all Youji had to do was keep his hips turned just so and Natsuo was no wiser. What was getting harder to hide was his sensitivity to hot and cold things as well as the temperature outside. He and Natsuo made a point of dressing based on the weather report each day that way they wouldn't appear over or under dressed compared to their school mates. But now Youji 'knew' if it was cold or hot out, and when it was cold he got goose bumps.

Then one day while the two were taking a relaxing afternoon bath everything came to a head, literally.

Youji was sitting back soaking in the tub, thinking about how much muscle Natsuo had put on this last year, it was a very pleasant feeling, floating there thinking about his Fighter and how strong he looked. When Natsuo leaned forward in the tub and grabbing Youji's shoulder, whispered in his ear.

"Youji look down, Wha-what's that, what's happening to you?" Youji opened his eyes and peered down at himself. He was startled to find his penis had become enlarged, in fact it was several times larger than normal.

"Whoa, it's never done 'that' before." They both looked at the enlarged member, bobbing in the water.

"Does it hurt?" Natsuo asked his Sacrifice his hand starting to move to the strange phenomenon.

"No, actually It feels kind of….(gasp)" Natsuo had grasped Youji's engorged member with a cursory touch trying to figure out what was going on. At that first touch, Youji had gasped suddenly and backed up the side of the tub and out of Natsuo reach.

"Youji? Did I hurt you? Are you okay, do we need to call someone?" Youji slid back down into the tub.

"No, I-I don't know, it felt like nothing I can even begin to explain to you. B-but, I , well, except that I want you to touch it again." A rosy glow colored the cheeks of the Zero Sacrifice one that was not caused by the heat of the water in the tub.

"You do? But why?"

"I-it felt good, really good to have Natsuo's hand on it, maybe if you rub it, it will go away."

Natsuo looked at his Sacrifice as if he might be losing his mind, but what the hell it was worth a try, and he sure as hell didn't want to tell Nagisa about this, if she thought Youji was defective she might just follow thru on her threats to kill them both. So he grasped the swollen appendage again and began to rub and squeeze it sometimes using both hands in the process. The noises and faces Youji started to make were actually very interesting and Natsuo worked to see if he could get him to make the same face twice. It was the tension in Youji's muscles that told Natsuo that something was about to happen. Then without much warning other than that the swollen appendage seemed to burst, and Youji yelled his name.

"Natsuo!!!"

"Youji! Youji, are you okay, it burst! Oh my god, I've killed you!" After yelling his Fighters name Youji had sunk down into the tub. The strangest expression on his face.

"I'm not dead Natsuo, just sleepy help me to the bed will ya." The now sleepy Sacrifice mumbled. Natsuo helped Youji from the tub he noticed while toweling him off that his penis had returned to its normal size. He half carried the lethargic Youji to the bed and laid him down were the long haired teen instantly feel asleep. Natsuo began to worry again, Youji had always had a hard time falling to sleep it was Natsuo who could fall asleep as soon as his head hit a pillow. In desperation he called Soubi, he couldn't think of anyone else to call and maybe as an adult he might know what had happened to Youji.

"Natsuo? Hey whats up?"

"Soubi, i-it's Youji he just exploded."

"He WHAT! Tell me what happened."

"We were in the bath….." Natsuo went into detail, explaining to Soubi exactly what had happened."

"Oh Gods, Ha… hahahaha"

"SOUBI! This is not funny! Stop laughing, what if he's defective or something, Nagisa will terminate him."

"No, Natsuo she won't, I'll make sure of it. Really everything is fine, in fact he's better than fine." Soubi was still chuckling.

"Better than fine? But what happened to him."

"Something very very normal for teenage boys your age, go to Ritsu, no scratch that, bad idea he likes em young. Go to 7 and ask her to lend you some books from the 5th grade sex education class. Read those first and then you can find out more on the internet."

"That was sex? But he still has his ears."

"No not sex not fully, it was, how do I say this, a form of practice."

"Practice, huh I wonder if I'll be able to practice too."

"Oh I suspect so, if not now then eventually." Soubi began to chuckle again at the innocence of the male Zero pair, and here they had thought to lose their ears with Hitomi Sensei when he'd met them, silly boys.

"Oh and Natsuo, one more thing"

"What."

"When you're looking into this on the internet, research same sex pairings that will be the most help to the two of you."

"Same sex pairings? You mean it works between guys and I don't have to go out and fine some dumb girl, I can just be with Youji. Forever."

"Yes, you can be with only him, forever, if that is what the two of you want." Natsuo could hear the smile in Soubi's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Thanks Soubi, I'm so glad I called you."

"Anytime, Natsuo, Anytime."

Natsuo closed the cell phone, and looked at his peacefully sleeping Sacrifice. Youji, he was the most important person in Natsuo's life. He never wanted to be separated from him. Youji had been keeping secrets lately, he thought Natsuo hadn't noticed the changes in him, but of course Natsuo had, they'd been together since well always, anything that affected Youji affected Natsuo. Natsuo had known immediately when Youji had started being able to feel hot and cold. Natsuo had just barely started noticing it himself. Tomorrow they would go to 7 and get those books and start finding out what was going on with him and hopefully he, Natsuo would catch up soon, Youji had looked so happy before he fell asleep. Natsuo wanted to know what it felt like. He rolled his Sacrifice over and looked at the Zero mark, just as he thought it was fading.


	3. Discipline

**Disclaimer: Loveless doesn't belong to me as much as I would love to take these two home with me.**

Chapter 3 - Discipline

The next morning Natsuo sat Youji down for a good long talk about keeping secrets from his Fighter. Natsuo took a cue from what he had heard about how some of the other Fighters and Sacrifices disciplined each other. Youji had actually yelped and cried out as the belt hit his bare behind and after several welts he'd started to cry exposing just how much he was now able to feel. By the time Natsuo was finished with him, Youji was a blubbering mess and his penis had swollen up again. Natsuo wasn't sure if he should do anything about that, he 'was' disciplining his Sacrifice after all and making him happy was not part of the deal. So that morning they found out that it 'would' go away on its own,.. eventually.

So it was a very subdued Youji, who was not in a hurry to be sitting down anytime soon and a determined Natsuo that headed into domain of 7. She thought it was cute that the Zero pair was so Naïve regarding sex, and being in charge of running and monitoring the schools security systems she immediately noticed the adorable Youji was having a little difficulty sitting still. The kind of difficultly that pointed to having been disciplined, she'd seen it enough here at the school, one of the pairs was always the more dominate partner while the other was submissive to some degree or another, and no, there were no rules as to who was which. She'd seen many submissive sacrifices over the years they were the ones that took the damage after all, so a liking for pain could be very beneficial to a sacrifice. Smiling as the teenagers stumbled thru their request for tutoring on such a delicate subject. She thought she would let them know she was on to their secret.

"Youji, dear would you like to stand up for a while?" Eyes wide with fear, Youji actually stilled in his seat.

"S-sensei, what do you mean?"

"I mean child that it's obvious, your Fighter has disciplined you and your fidgeting is only going to make it worse."

"Please, don't tell Sensei Nagisa, please." The terror in the couple's eyes was very real, and 7 wondered what her friend had done to these two young teenagers to cause such fear. No she would not tell Nagisa about this, those boys were flat out terrified of their creator.

"I give you word of Honor I will not tell Nagisa. Natsuo, from now on you might want to think about waiting until later in the day or even bedtime before disciplining Youji. I know sometimes it's important to make your 'point' right then and there. But if you wait, he'll be less likely to give you away the next morning, okay." Natsuo nodded his head at 7's words of wisdom, yes that made sense, and the wait would heighten the punishment making it even more effective.

"Yes Sensei, I hadn't thought of that, honestly we weren't even sure how it would turn out until after we'd started and well even now I'm not even sure how long he's going to feel it."

"This was the first time? How hard did you beat him? The pair actually blushed, those words sounded well so provocative.

"I-I well it's very red and he says it's sore to the touch, I was really angry with him and I wanted to make sure he understood how important what I was trying to get across was."

"Oh my, Um Youji could you turn around and drop your pants a little I want to make sure Natsuo didn't go too far in his inexperience." Blushing, the pretty long haired teen did as she asked, then pulled them back up again quickly.

"Goodness, okay you two stay here a couple of minutes, I'll be right back." 7 rushed off to get the books the boys had asked for, along with a couple that were NOT on the regular curriculum they were extremely naïve, it was obvious they had no clue regarding anything sexual, and it was also obvious to even the secluded 7 that they would make a couple of it, most Fighter Units did, in fact it was very rare that a Fighter Pair that didn't pair bond in 'that' way as well as the Sacrifice/Fighter Bond. Though it did happen occasionally, Ritsu and his Fighter had been one such pair, Soubi and his first Sacrifice 'Beloved' (aka Seimei) was another, and in 'those' pairs while one was usually willing the other wasn't and so the bond never fully completed no matter how strong the pair seemed, they could have been stronger if the pair bond had completed. 7 believed, (unlike Ritsu who still harbored feelings for Soubi himself) that Ritsuka was Soubi's true Sacrifice, time would tell on that one.

Gathering the things she had left to retrieve she returned to the anxiously waiting pair. She handed them the regular class assigned books first, telling them which to read first and then she handed them the extra books she had brought with her.

"You will find these books to be a bit more helpful for your particular situation. Same sex pairings are quite common among the bonded Fighter Units. But the regular assigned books don't cover it for some reason, so we keep these on hand for those pairs that are. I've also included a beginners book on 'disciplining' I would suggest you both read it, if it interests you I can get you more." She' eyed the boys as they flipped thru the book their eyes wide that there were actually 'books' regarding that kind of stuff, Youji's breathing actually started to hitch a little. There was more? Could he take that? Did Natsuo 'like' what he had done to him this morning?

"Ah, thank you Sensei, thank you so much. We'll take good care of them, promise." Natsuo closed the book a smirk gracing his face. Yeah he was interested all right, and from the sound of it so was Youji. 7 then presented the boys with a jar of salve. A ghost of a smile upon her face, Natsuo had certainly wanted to get a very important point across to his Sacrifice this morning the poor boy was going to be black and blue.

"Here, Youji's going to need this, there is no way he's going to be able to sit thru classes today. In fact he may find sitting a little difficult for a couple of days, this salve will help, I'll send an e-mail to your teachers that you're doing some extra work for me today." With a smile she then ushered them out of her private domain and back in the direction of main school. Books and salve in hand the teenagers headed back to Youji's room. They had a lot of reading to do and Youji's ass was on fire, he wanted to put some of that salve on as soon as possible.

Natsuo turned out to be quite the disciplinarian, he refused Youji's somewhat whiny request to put the salve on 'now', he advised his Sacrifice that that would defeat the purpose of the spanking if he numbed the pain right away. He didn't want Youji forgetting anytime soon what would happen if he kept anymore secrets from his fighter. For his part Youji, swore vehemently that he'd gotten the point very well earlier and could Natsuo, pplleeaassee wipe the salve on his butt. But Natsuo refused saying he would just have to live with it until bedtime. He then put the salve in his pocket and settled into a chair to read the book on discipline 7 had given them. He gave Youji the standard sex education books to start with, he ended up reading lying down on the bed at least that way he wasn't fidgeting all the time, his ass was still on fire, stupid Natsuo. He'd promised not to keep secrets anymore hadn't he? Every once in a while he'd reach back and rub the offending part of his anatomy, hoping that would help. It was a very natural reaction unfortunately it didn't help at all.

Natsuo gave in after dinner Youji stripped down, the redness had lessened somewhat but now the blue black of bruises were beginning to appear. Natsuo felt somewhat guilty, after reading the book 7 had given them he had realized he had not only gone too far, especially for the first time, but that one should work up to serious punishment, starting off with a leather strap as they had done was for couples far more experienced in such things than they were, he could have seriously harmed his Sacrifice by accident and not just disciplined him as he had intended. He was grateful to 7 for this book, he had also read that there were two basic kinds of discipline the kind he'd done this morning, which was done as a punishment and then the kind that was done for sexual gratification.

It explained what Youji's response this morning meant. Despite allhis cries and protests, Youji's body had enjoyed it. Natsuo had no desire whatsoever to find out what it felt like to be on the receiving end, but the pictures in the book had given him several enticing and vivid images. One of Youji squirming bent over his lap had made him feel all warm inside and a heat had built in his groin area and he'd felt a slight stirring there. Touching himself he found he was as swollen as Youji had been the day before, from this morning he knew it would go down on its own, but that it was there made him happy. He was catching up to his Sacrifice.

Natsuo decided to partially indulge that vivid image, except that instead of Youji receiving a punishment, this time he would use that handy position to apply the salve Youji been begging for all day. He instructed Youji how to place himself and to remember this position for future reference. Youji laid himself across Natsuo lap, he knew Natsuo was going to apply the salve but the position itself made him feel vulnerable and exposed, which was weird seeing as they'd been taking baths together nearly all their lives.

Opening the jar Natsuo scooped some of the salve out onto his hand he began to gently apply it to the abused flesh of his Sacrifices bottom. Youji gasped when Natsuo's hand had first connected with his sore ass, but soon the salve started to do it work. Both Sacrifice and Fighter lost themselves in the feelings racing thru them. While one of Natsuo's hands caressed and rubbed the salve into Youji's tender behind, the other stroked the long beautiful hair falling to the floor. Sensations ripped thru Youji as his Fighter tenderly cared for him. He wanted something more he just didn't know what that more was yet. All too soon Natsuo finished rubbing in the salve, Youji moved to kneel on the floor at his feet, their eyes locked on one another's.

"Youji, I'm so sorry about this morning. I went too far, I know that now. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course Natsuo, I would forgive you anything." Led only by instinct, Natsuo leaned forward and for the first time ever pressed his lips to those of his Sacrifice.

He was so sweet, his beautiful one, his Youji.

---

AN: 1 maybe two more chapters to go.


	4. Visitors

**Disclaimer: Loveless doesn't belong to me, only the dirty plot bunnies running aorund in my head are mine.**

**Summary: Ritsuka and Soubi come to the school for a visit.**

Chapter 4 - Visitors

The salve was a great help over the next few days, without it Youji would have never been able to sit thru his classes. Every free moment was spend either reading the books 7 had lent them or watching the other fighter Units thru newly open eyes.

Kissing had also opened up a whole new world of experiences for them and they sought out dark corners and secluded places to practice this new and wonderful thing. No wonder Soubi was always glomping Ritsuka and throwing a lip lock on him at the slightest provocation, and once Ritsuka had accepted Soubi he had turned out to be just as bad, kissing the tall blonde at the drop of a hat. Youji had kissed Ritsuka once trying to 'taste' him, having seen Soubi do it he'd wondered if that was what kissing was for, back then the Zero pair had had almost no feeling just slight sense of touch. The furious Soubi had tossed the startled Youji out his apartment door for kissing his Sacrifice, at the time neither Youji nor Natsuo had any idea why he'd gotten so bent out of shape about it. Soubi had eventually relented and let Youji back in when he realized Youji had no clue why he'd gotten upset in the first place. Now years later the pair finally understood.

It was also during this time that they noticed most of the older pairs were nearly all 'adults' and even many of their year mates had recently become adults as well. Finally understanding much of the gossip they'd been hearing around the school for years they realized there were a couple 'bets' going on regarding certain Fighter units and when they would lose their ears. The current red hot bet was their year mates and friends Midori and Ai, they had just turned 15 and were always together, the 'Breathless' pair was considered the top contenders for the next pair to lose their ears. In fact a lot of their fellow students were surprised the lovey dovey twosome had gotten this far. Not surprisingly there was also a large pool going on about when Ritsuka would finally lose his ears to Soubi. The oblivious Zero pair didn't realized they were also a hot betting item, their classmates weren't nearly as unobservant as the teachers, several people had seen the Zero pair making out in corners recently, and well, Youji was extremely noisy, those students who had rooms near his, were very aware that the Zero pair had started 'playing around' with each other.

Youji and Natsuo also realized during this time that the majority of the Fighter units didn't only just bond thru the original Fighter/Sacrifice bond, but eventually most of the units formed a strong love bond as well. Strengthening the original bond and bringing the Fighter Unit that much closer together.

A month had passed since that momentous day in the bath, and tomorrow the school had scheduled the start of annual training exercises for the established Fighter pairs. Soubi and Ritsuka were coming for a visit and were going to participate voluntarily this year. It had been two years since the night Seimei had reappeared. Last year the 'Loveless' pair had declined Ritsu-sensei's invitation to join the exercises, but for some reason this year they had accepted. They were expected to arrive shortly, Youji and Natsuo had volunteered to put up the 'Loveless' Fighter and Sacrifice in their rooms.

So they were hanging out in the lobby waiting for them to arrive. When they did show up and walked into the lobby the first thing both noticed, was Ritsuka's totally lack of ears and a tail.

"Ritsuka! Oh my god, you guys finally did IT. You are so going to have to give me details. Come on everything's already been taken care of, your going to be staying in my room." The outgoing Youji flung himself at the blushing teen and hugged him, before dragging him off into the school and towards his room. Natsuo had followed his Sacrifice in a more sedate manor, he just grinned at Soubi.

"So, Soubi, get tired of waiting?" Soubi looked over at the male Zero Fighter and shrugged.

"Wasn't my idea, Ritsuka made the decision all on his own."

"I'm sure he did, he's a lot stronger than Ritsu and the others suspect. Come on, your bunking in my room." Natsuo entered the school, Soubi following him to the Wing that held the Fighters and their rooms.

----

Over in Youji's room the two teenagers were gossiping, catching each other up on what had been happening lately around the school and in the outside world as they were getting ready for bed. Youji had undressed and was about to throw on a night shirt, his back turned to Ritsuka. He'd totally forgotten that just before they'd headed out to the lobby Natsuo had given him a light spanking, there were telltale pink hand prints marking his behind. Ritsuka gasped when he caught sight of them and going over to his friend he pulled up the night shirt in the back, fully exposing Youji's pink bottom to his eyes for a moment before he let it drop back in place.

"Youji, who's done this to you, was it Nagisa-Sensei, has she taken to beating the two of you now? Why would she do that, you guys aren't supposed to be able to feel pain. Is she testing you or something?" But those marks were of a hand and that was a very personal way of disciplining, as Ritsuka was well aware of, it didn't make sense that it would be Nagisa. As he watched the Zero Sacrifice Youji started to blush furiously. Damn, thought Youji, he'd forgotten all about the fact that his butt was probably still a little pink from the earlier discipline Natsuo had applied to it.

"I-I ah, no Nagisa-Sensei doesn't bother with us much anymore. I-it was, well, Natsuo gave me a spanking for not getting a good enough score on a test I took yesterday."

"Natsuo, did this?" Ritsuka's eyes opened wide at that news, Youji's blush darkening even further, hands twisting the bottom of his night shirt, his feet fidgeting, Youji decided to tell his friend the truth, with Soubi as his partner perhaps he would understand.

"I-I, well, I s-sort of like it when Natsuo disciplines me. I can feel pain now, Ritsuka, sure it hurts but it's also w-well it's exciting all at the same time."

This was news to Ritsuka, but he wasn't all that surprised, Natsuo and Youji were nearly the same age the female Zero pair had been when Yamato the Female Zero Sacrifice had first started feeling hot and cold temperatures and the pain of the damage she received in battle. Kouya and Yamato were currently enrolled in the same college as Soubi and they kept in touch, especially now that they were no longer 'Zero'. Both girls were very happy and reasonably well adjusted all things considered. What did confuse Ritsuka was that Youji was the Sacrifice and was supposed to be the one commanding his Fighter, shouldn't it have been the other way around, unless the two were both trying it out on each other. What with the ability to feel pain being so new, perhaps that was it.

"Do both you and Natsuo feel pain? Are you guys testing out your limits seeing as it's so new?" As Youji didn't seem much bothered by his pink rear end the two sat on the bed now, facing each other as they drank some cola and munched a few snacks, they discussed the changes that had recently taken place between the 'Zero' pair.

"Huh? Oh no, Natsuo says he has absolutely no desire to be on the receiving end, he says he does feel pain now, he got a cut the other day and swore up a blue storm when I put the antiseptic on it. Needless to say we haven't told Nagisa-Sensei, but 7-Sensei helped us out answering some of our questions and giving us some really informative books."

"Really, that's great. But I would have thought it would be Natsuo who'd 'like' it, you know like Soubi does, seeing as he's the Fighter."

"Yeah, you'd think so but 7-Sensei said that in each pair, one partner is usually more dominate than the other, and that it doesn't follow a set pattern, so it could be either the Fighter or the Sacrifice who's the more submissive partner."

"But isn't it the Sacrifice who gives the commands to his Fighter during a battle?"

"True, but each Fighter Unit is different in how they fight and interact depending on personality and inclination, in our case when we fight Natsuo and I are a team, other than issuing the initial command to Natsuo to start a fight, we make most of our decisions together during a battle. 7-Sensei thinks that now that I'm capable of feeling the damage I receive, that perhaps it's best I'm the submissive partner, she said that the ability to endure pain can be a valuable asset to a Sacrifice and make them able to hold up far longer."

This made a lot of sense to Ritsuka, and cemented something he had suspected for a long time, it also explained why he and Soubi had been able to win some of their earliest fights, as an abused child Ritsuka had endured the pain of his mothers beatings for years the damage he received in a spell battle was almost nothing in comparison. Before he and Soubi had been able to bond somewhat Soubi had taken the damage upon himself, able to withstand it because he like Ritsuka had been beaten when he was younger, and also as the submissive partner Soubi had an actual liking for pain, well at least if it was Ritsuka dealing it out that is, with anyone else he just kind of ignored it. Well that wasn't a problem anymore they were bonded completely now, Ritsuka had taken care of that just last week in fact, touching the 'Loveless' now imprinted upon his throat (1). He smiled at the memory.

"So Ritsuka, come on tell me what happened to your ears?" Ritsuka smiled at the pretty long haired Sacrifice, next to Soubi Ritsuka had always thought Youji was one of the cutest people he knew. Taking his hands he opened the top button on his jammies and showed Youji the writing written there on his throat.

Youji's eyes grew big as he realized Ritsuka was finally marked with his true name.

"Ayah, Ritsuka is that why the two of you are here this year, are you looking for the real 'Loveless' Fighter? What about poor Soubi?" Youji felt kind of bad for his friends, he had started to hope that the real "Loveless' Fighter would never show and that Soubi and Ritsuka would be able to stay together, he knew that if he had to give up Natsuo he would just die, literally just die. He didn't know how he could survive without Natsuo at his side. But Ritsuka was smiling again. Huh?

"Oh, I found my real Fighter all right. Tomorrow take a good look at Soubi's throat, right where 'Be-love-d' used to be, he's not going to be wearing those bandages after today." The way Ritsuka drew out the word 'beloved' and the way the word 'loveless' was emblazoned on his throat told Youji all he needed to know. Throwing himself at Ritsuka he hugged him in joy.

"Oh, Ritsuka I'm so HAPPY for you two. I knew it, I just knew you were meant for each other. Now no one can ever take Soubi away from you." Ritsuka laughed as his enthusiastic friend hugged the stuffing out of him.

"Hey, hey Youji, come on let me up your squishing me. No really, come on. Hahaha."

---

AN: (1) see 'The Hidden Truth' for Soubi and Ritsuka's story of how they finally bonded.


	5. Night Moves

**Disclaimer: Well you know all the drill by now, These little cutie aren't mine. **

**Warning: Youji's been keeping another secret, Man sex ahead. ;) Don'tcha love it.**

Chapter 5 - Night Moves

Turns out 'that' was exactly the reason Ritsuka and Soubi had accepted the invitation to the annual weekend Fighter Unit training at the School of the Seven Moons. To show them all (especially Ritsu-Sensei) that Soubi was in fact Ritsuka's true Fighter and that they were a truly bonded pair. They passed all the tests as easily as any of the long term bonded pairs training that weekend. Sunday night they returned home, Ritsuka once again refusing to enter the school as one of the regular students.

Youji, Natsuo Midori and Ai and a few others saw them off with promises to keep in touch and Youji and Natsuo promised to visit during the next school break. Heading back to Youji's room they spotted Nagisa-Sensei leading Ritsu-Sensei thru the halls, Ritsu-Sensei was not in the best of moods since it became apparent that Soubi was Ritsuka's true Fighter. The smarter students took to avoiding him at all costs, the Zero pair were no dummies and took off down another hallway, for all they knew it might be decades before Ritsu-Sensei regained his normal sarcastic but calm demeanor. So they headed to Natsuo's room for a change, Nagisa-Sensei seemed to have forgotten Natsuo even existed, she came by Youji's room on occasion but the two wondered if she even knew or cared where Natsuo's was.

Youji followed Natsuo into his room closing the door behind him little expecting what happened next. Natsuo turned and grabbing Youji by the shoulders backing him up to the now closed door, his one eye intense as he looked at his Sacrifice.

"Wha… hey, why are… Hmmmph."

Natsuo shut the ever talkative Youji up in the most effective way possible, he kissed him. Youji was startled at first by the sudden aggressiveness of his Fighter, but he relaxed into kiss almost immediately. Just as he was starting to get really into it, Natsuo broke off the kiss and held him at arm's length, his eye cold.

"What did I tell you about keeping secrets?" Youji began to hyperventilate at those words and at the look in Natsuo's eye. His body began to tremble in a combination of fear and anticipation. With a quick move Natsuo grabbed the waist band of the sweats Youji was wearing and lowered them enough to expose his right hip, Youji gasped as his secret was revealed, the 'Zero' mark had faded so much it was almost non-existent now, the weekend of training and mock battles had hastened the process.

"Na-Natsuo, I-I.."

"I, nothing you kept this from me. ME, your partner. Seems I'm going to have to teach you a lesson about keeping secrets and about who's the boss around here. Strip, NOW!"

Youji still shaking did as he was told, when he was naked, Natsuo sat on the bed and instructed Youji to place himself over his lap, just as he had when Natsuo had rubbed the salve into his ass after that first day and then again once or twice afterwards for some light disciplining. But today was going to be no easy spanking, as Youji had undressed Natsuo had taken out a few items from one of his dresser drawers and placed them on the bed next to him. Youji didn't get a chance to see what Natsuo had put there before he was up ended over Natsuo's lap. Again as he had the first time he'd been in this particular position he felt vulnerable and exposed before his partner. His breath hitched as he felt Natsuo's hand caress his bottom.

"Youji, I'm very disappointed in you, I had other ideas for tonight that did not include busting your butt. But is seems you need a very firm hand indeed." At the words 'firm hand' Natsuo raised his hand and delivered a hard sharp firm smack to his Sacrifices white ass leaving a perfect pink hand print in its place. While Ritsuka and Soubi had been at the school, Youji and Natsuo hadn't had a chance to play their little games so it had been several days since Youji had felt Natsuo's hands on him in any way shape or form. This wasn't exactly how he'd thought tonight was going to go either. Smack, smack, smack Natsuo spanked the cheeks of his Fighters ass, slowly warming them to a pink tinge. Youji was really feeling the sting of the spanks now and had started to squirm in Natsuo's lap.

"Stop moving and put your hands back on the floor." Youji did as he was told he had tried to block a couple of the sharp spanks with his arm. Natsuo had told him this was a no-no and could increase his punishment. He was surprised when instead of the expected smack Natsuo's hand started rubbing his ass again. The feeling was incredible, but it was nothing compared to what was coming.

Na-natsuo, wha-what are you doing?"

"Like it?" Natsuo squeezed his rump before he slipped his hand between his Sacrifices legs and trailed his fingers up his inner thigh until he reached the junction of his legs.

(GASP) Youji's breathing became ragged, he was finding it hard to speak, and the erection against Natsuo's leg told him just how much his Sacrifice was enjoying this new play. Reaching to his side he grabbed a paddle Soubi had suggested would do a good job for the next step. He then began to paddle his Sacrifices already pink ass, turning it a darker red with each smack. Youji hadn't been expecting to be paddled, so the first smack had startled him, then as the paddle descended again and again his ass began to really burn, tears escaped from his eyes and he started yelling as Natsuo paddled his already warm behind. He started to struggle a little but Natsuo grabbed and pinned his free arm behind his back, and continued his assault on Youji's rump. When it was a hot bright red, he stopped and placed the paddle back on the bed, he started caressing the hot flesh before him. Youji tears in his eyes, found the feeling unexplainable, painful but wonderful all at the same time.

This time when Natsuo put his hand between Youji's now limp legs he cupped his Sacrifices balls playing with them making the erection against his leg bounce, he traced a finger up the crack of Youji's ass to the sweet red bud of his entrance, circling it with the tip of his finger he gauged how Youji was reacting to this new development. His Sacrifice was panting hard now, tears still glistened on his lashes from the paddling he gripped the bed.

"Youji, how do you feel?"

"Fe-fe-feel? Huh?" Youji's mind was scrambled he couldn't think he was all sensations and feelings right now. Natsuo smiled his Sacrifice was reacting very well, Soubi had told Natsuo what to look for if it seemed Youji was having a hard time putting two words together. Which looked to be the case here, in fact being unable to complete a sentence was actually a good sign.

"Youji, I plan to take your ears tonight, it's a good thing I talked to Soubi first or this might have gone really badly. I know now that I have to prepare you. Youji? Are you listening?" Panting Youji tried to form words all that came out was.

"Y-Yes, ears, gone, good." Okay it seemed he'd gotten the jist of it, picking up the bottle of lube he'd also placed by his side he started to massaged it into Youji's entrance, taking a single finger he slowly inserted it up to the first knuckle. Damn he was tight, how on earth was this supposed to work? He slowly withdrew the finger and put it back in again working the lube into the tight entrance. Youji's mind was blank all he could do right now was feel.

Na-Na-Natsuo, Oh god, YES.

Natsuo had finally gotten his whole finger working in and out of Youji, he was starting to loosen up, ah so that's what Soubi had been talking about, as Youji became accustomed to it he adjusted to accommodate what Natsuo was doing. It was time to move around a bit and have a little fun for himself, he pushed his Sacrifice over on to the bed. Standing up Natsuo undressed his own hard-on had been bursting at the seams it felt so good to have it freed, he joined his Sacrifice on the bed lowering himself onto Youji, he captured his lips in a long and passionate kiss, pressing himself again Youji's burgeoning erection. He licked Youji's lower lip for entrance into the sweet warm mouth he had come to know so well in the last month, Youji opened up and Natsuo's tongue dove in and took control. Hands roved over sides, hips, nipples and their hard-on's. Lips and tongues followed hands as the two explored each other fully in ways they had never thought of before.

Natsuo was working on Youji's near to bursting penis, his hot mouth making his Sacrifice moan and groan. Reaching blindly his hand found the bottle of lube, he squeezed some more into his hand and pushing Youji's slender legs up towards his ears, Natsuo rubbed some of the lube on himself and then started rubbing the lube into Youji's entrance again, this time inserting two fingers slowly moving them in and out until Youji relaxed even more. Once Natsuo thought Youji was ready he placed the head of his penis at Youji's entrance and started to push his way slowly in. Youji was panting hard, his breathing ragged as Natsuo pressed himself into his Sacrifice.

"Youji? Are you okay? Soubi said it might hurt you some, especially this first time." Youji had his eyes closed taking what his Fighter was doing to him.

"Y-yes a little, it's feels strange, b-but I want to move, is that right?" Natsuo soothed his Sacrifice, withdrawing slowly. Damn, this felt totally, well just, Wow! Natsuo had no words. Hell until a few months ago he hadn't even been able to feel anything and now… he was being swamped by sensations he could have never dreamed of.

"Yes, my beautiful one, we're supposed to move, and it will get better as we move, relax my Love." And Youji pushed back in, burying himself to the hilt. Youji's gasped as Natsuo hit something inside, something wonderful.

"More, Na-Natsuo, p-please more." And Natsuo started to move in and out, his Sacrifice tight around him, hitting again and again that wonderful sweet spot. It was a hot sticky messy and wonderful business this Making Love, and as the pressure built up inside of them, they called out each other's names as they came together. Natsuo captured Youji's Lips in a tender kiss once he could think again, and gathered him into his arms as they fell asleep. The soft ears on their heads and the tails that rode just over their backsides had fallen to the bed as they reached completion.

The magic of that special night worked its final miracle as they dreamed, wrapped in each other's arms.

Youji awoke first, he was sore in a whole new way. It felt pretty good actually, he felt as if he had been filled and completed all at the same time, and he smiled at the memory. He was an adult now, both he and Natsuo were now adults, and Nagisa could no longer fully control their lives as she had when they'd been considered children. Looking at his Fighter he marveled once again how strong and handsome he'd become, his eyes roved possessively over the muscled frame, only to pause on his right hip which was exposed. Natsuo's 'Zero' mark was gone.

"Natsuo, Wake up!"

"Huh? Youji, what is it?"

"Look, here and also at yourself." Youji threw off the blanket covering the two of them and sitting up showed Natsuo his hip, his fading Zero mark was now completely gone as well. But Natsuo thought he saw something as Youji had turned over. Looking down at himself he saw that Yes, his Zero mark was definitely gone, sitting up he looked over at his left hip where the dark birthmark they both had used to be. Smiling he pulled his frantic Sacrifice from the bed and led him over to the mirror on his wall.

"Yes, Youji it seems we are no longer 'Zero'. But look, look at our birthmarks." Youji looked at the mirror as the two teens stood with their left hips toward it and there the mirror showed that something was now written on their left hips, in the same place they had once had dark birthmarks. Youji turned around and faced his Fighter and kneeling he read the word that was now emblazoned onto his skin. Standing up his eyes filled with wonder and joy.

They were no longer 'Zero' in fact they were 'More than Zero.'

They were 'Timeless'

Epilogue:

Youji had cried for nearly a half an hour he was so happy, Natsuo didn't know somebody could cry because he was happy before this. While Youji blubbered he'd called Soubi and Ritsuka and told them what had happened, Ritsuka had started crying too, really what was up with these guys, geez. Soubi advised them to go to 7 first and tell her what had happened and show her the names. Then let her deal with telling Ritsu and more Importantly Nagisa. Now with their own true Names they were no longer 'Zero' so they no longer had to answer to Nagisa, even better Ritsu actually came out of his funk at hearing Nagisa's Zero project was a complete failure.

Seems no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't suppress Love and in the end it was Love that had freed both Zero pairs.


End file.
